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<h1>HTML coding and style guidelines for Ghostscript documentation</h1>

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<h2>Table of contents</h2>

<blockquote><ul>
<li><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a>
<li><a href="#Appearance">Appearance and contents</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Page_structure">Page structure</a>
<li><a href="#Links_outside">Links to outside the Ghostscript documentation</a>
<li><a href="#Images">Images and graphics</a>
<li><a href="#index.html"><b><tt>index.html</tt></b></a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Large_structure">HTML large structure</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#HTML_head">HTML <b><tt>&lt;head&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#HTML_body">HTML <b><tt>&lt;body&gt;</tt></b></a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Inner_structure">HTML inner structure</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Structuring_comments">Structuring comments</a>
<li><a href="#Headers">Headers: <b><tt>&lt;Hn&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#Anchors">Anchors: <b><tt>&lt;a name="..."&gt;</tt></b></a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Text">The presentation of text</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Text_sections">Sections of text</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Paragraphs">Paragraphs: <b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#Blockquote">Indented paragraphs: <b><tt>&lt;blockquote&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#Line_breaks">Explicit line breaks: <b><tt>&lt;br&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#Preformatted_text">Preformatted text: <b><tt>&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b></a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Use_of_fonts">The use of different font faces</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Lists">Lists: <b><tt>&lt;ul&gt;, &lt;ol&gt;, &lt;dl&gt;</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#Tables">Tables: <b><tt>&lt;table&gt;</tt></b></a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Readability">Readability for the user and the HTML writer</a>
<li><a href="#Table_guidelines">Specific guidelines for coding tables</a>
<li><a href="#Typical_table">HTML code for typical tables</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Unused_tags">Tags not used</a>
<li><a href="#New_document">Creating a new document</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#File_name">Name the new document in 8+3 format</a>
<li><a href="#Plagiarize">Use an existing document as a model</a>
<li><a href="#Readme_material">Write new references to go in <b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></a>
<li><a href="#New_doc_other">Other considerations</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#Miscellany">Miscellany</a>
</ul></blockquote>

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<p>For other information, see the <a href="Readme.htm">Ghostscript
overview</a>.

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<hr>

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<h2><a name="Introduction"></a>Introduction</h2>

<p>
The most important intention in casting Ghostscript's documentation into
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) from simple text form is to improve its
usefulness greatly to those who use, install, and build Ghostscript:
everything else is details.  The wide spread of World Wide Web browsers now
makes it possible to distribute documents which are not only readable as
text, but also richly cross-linked as hypertext.  Using hypertext through a
browser can reduce the effort required to find and use the information
people often need in order to use Ghostscript.

<p>
The remainder of this document expresses the guidelines used to create the
HTML form of the Ghostscript documentation.  The guidelines are intended to
encourage

<ul>
<li>documents that are easy to read and understand in all of the most-used
forms: on screen with a browser, printed by a browser, or as plain text;

<li>correct HTML that conforms to prevailing standards;

<li>consistent HTML coding among all Ghostscript's documents; and

<li>HTML documents that are as simple as possible in light of their
contents; free of difficult, little-used, or proprietary constructs; and
easy to understand and modify.
</ul>

<p>
Here are those guidelines.

<hr>

<h2><a name="Appearance"></a>Appearance and contents</h2>

<p>
What the user sees browsing the documentation, and what a document
developer or editor sees working with it, are different.  This section is
about what the user sees.

<h3><a name="Page_structure"></a>Page structure</h3>

<p>
A Ghostscript document in HTML form should consist of

<ol>
<li>a visual header containing
<ol type=a>
<li>a conspicuous highlighted headline;
<li>a table of contents;
<li>"hints": references to other useful documents, always including
<a href="Readme.htm">Readme.htm</a>;
</ol>
<li>the substantive contents;
<li>a visual trailer consisting entirely of
<ol type=a>
<li>standard copyright and licensing text;
<li>the Ghostscript version number; and
<li>the date when the document was last modified.
</ol>
</ol>

<p>
This document is an example of this standard visible structure.  Also see
below about "<a href="#Structuring_comments">Structuring comments</a>" in
HTML source code.

<p>
Where it makes sense to modify the standard structure to make the document
more usable, do that.  See
<a href="Readme.htm"><b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></a> for an example: the
introductory material at the beginning of the visible header, before the
table of contents.

<h3><a name="Links_outside"></a>Links to outside the Ghostscript documentation</h3>

<p>
Links to sites and documents outside the ghostscript distribution
must carry the <code>class="offsite"</code> attribute and value. This signals special
formatting to the stylesheet to assist users reading offline.

<p>
Avoid gratuitous commercial links; for instance, link the title of a book
to its publisher, not to one particular on-line bookseller. See
<a href="Language.htm#Capabilities"><b><tt>Language.htm</tt></b></a> for an
example, the reference to the <em>PostScript Language Reference
Manual</em>.

<p>
Similarly, where you have a choice, refer to free software rather than
commercial products.  See
<a href="Make.htm#Third-party_libraries">Make.htm</a> for an example, the
reference to <a href="Make.htm#Third-party_libraries">InfoZip
<b><tt>unzip</tt></b></a> (where many commercial products provide similar
functions).

<h3><a name="Images"></a>Images and graphics</h3>

<p>
Use no graphics or images.  The documents are text-only, so nothing is lost
when a document is converted into ASCII text.  This is an explicit initial
design goal of the HTML documentation.

<h3><a name="index.html"></a><b><tt>index.html</tt></b></h3>

<p>
<b><tt>index.html</tt></b> is not a part of the visible Ghostscript
documentation itself, but when it is placed with all the
<b><tt>*.htm</tt></b> files in a directory and a browser refers to the
directory name alone, most servers are configured to deliver a file named
<b><tt>index.html</tt></b> by default.  This one does nothing except
immediately to open the introductory Ghostscript document
<a href="index.html"><b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></a>.  This is intended to
make life easier for both webmasters and users.

<hr>

<h2><a name="Large_structure"></a>HTML large structure</h2>

<h3><a name="HTML_head"></a>HTML <b><tt>&lt;head&gt;</tt></b></h3>

<p>
Besides the essential HTML structure elements, Ghostscript HTML document's
<b><tt>&lt;head&gt;</tt></b> consists of three elements in this order:

<ol>
<li>A <b><tt>&lt;title&gt;</tt></b>, usually the same text as the
<a href="#Headline">headline</a>

<li>An RCS identification line giving the name of the file in an HTML
comment:

<blockquote>
<!-- The next line must not contain the literal string $,I,d,:! -->
<b><tt>&lt;!-- $Id</tt><tt>: </tt></b><b><em>{file name}</em></b><b><tt>.htm $ --&gt;</tt></b>
</blockquote>

<li>For documents converted from another form, an HTML comment line giving
the name of the original file before it was edited and converted to HTML:

<blockquote>
<b><tt>&lt;!-- Originally: </tt></b><b><em>{file name}</em></b><b><tt> --&gt;</tt></b>
</blockquote>
</ol>

<h3><a name="HTML_body"></a>HTML <b><tt>&lt;body&gt;</tt></b></h3>

<p>
A Ghostscript HTML document's <b><tt>&lt;body&gt;</tt></b> consists of five
elements in this order:

<ol>
<li><a name="Headline"></a>The <b><em>headline</em></b> is conspicuous text
at the top of the page, usually the same as the
<a href="#Structure_head"><b><tt>&lt;title&gt;</tt></b></a> text. It is
always in a table whose purpose is to provide a colored background using
<b><tt>bgcolor</tt></b>, going the full width of the page:

<blockquote>
<b><tt>&lt;p&gt;&lt;table width="100%" border="0"&gt;<br>
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th align="center" bgcolor="#CCCC00"&gt;&lt;font size=6&gt;</tt></b><br>
<b><em>{Text}</em></b><br>
<b><tt>&lt;/font&gt;<br>
&lt;/table&gt;</tt></b>
</blockquote>

<li><a name="Table_of_contents"></a>
The <b><em>table of contents</em></b> consists of nested unordered
lists <b><tt>&lt;ul&gt;</tt></b>, in most documents assembled strictly from
the <b><tt>&lt;Hn&gt;</tt></b> headers.  The levels of nesting in the table
of contents correspond to the level numbers of the headers.

<li>The <b><em>hint</em></b> is a short section suggesting where to look
for other related information.  With very few exceptions this always
includes a reference and link to
<a href="Readme.htm"><b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></a>, but may include other
suggestions and references.

<li>The substance of the document.

<li>The <b><em>trailer</em></b> contains, in a small font size,

<ol type=a>
<li>the <b><em>copyright notice</em></b> and other legal boilerplate text
<li>the <b><em>version number</em></b> of Ghostscript and the
<b><em>date</em></b> when the file was last modified.
</ol>
</ol>

<p>
This document for an example of that structure.

<hr>

<h2><a name="Inner_structure"></a>HTML inner structure</h2>

<h3><a name="Structuring_comments"></a>Structuring comments</h3>

<p>
Special comment lines within the HTML files mark internally the visible
sections of the document.  They make it easy for both document developers
and programs to handle the HTML code.  Each of these comments is exactly 80
characters wide, and each important section of a document is bracketed by a
unique beginning and ending pair.  View the source code of this document
for an example of these structuring comments.  The sections they mark are:

<ol>
<li>the <b><em>visible header</em></b>
<ol type=a>
<li>the <a href="#Headline"><b><em>headline</em></b></a>
<li>the <b><em>table of contents</em></b>
<li>the "see also" <b><em>hints</em></b>
</ol>
<li>the <b><em>body</em></b>
<li>the <b><em>trailer</em></b>
</ol>

<h3><a name="Headers"></a>Headers: <b><tt>&lt;Hn&gt;</tt></b></h3>

<p>
Give a header <b><tt>&lt;Hn&gt;</tt></b> this structure:

<blockquote><b><tt>
&lt;h2&gt;&lt;a name="Head_anchor"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Header text&lt;/h2&gt;
</tt></b></blockquote>

<p>
That is, the opening header tag, an anchor, the header text, and the
closing tag.

<p>
Represent every header in the table of contents, linked
<b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;href="#..."&gt;</tt></b>...<b><tt>&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b> to
the header.  Of course, the headers are also convenient linkage points for
references from other documents.

<h3><a name="Anchors"></a>Anchors: <b><tt>&lt;a name="..."&gt;</tt></b></h3>

<p>
Give an anchor a name consisting only of letters, digits, dots
("<b><tt>.</tt></b>"), hyphens ("<b><tt>-</tt></b>"), and underscores
("<b><tt>_</tt></b>"), but not white space or other punctuation marks.
This ensures that the name is readable and that an entire name always
appears on a single line of HTML source both where it's defined and
everywhere it's used, making it simple to find anchors by text search in
the HTML source code.

<p>
Choose anchor names to be readable and meaningful in the HTML source code.
For instance:

<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr valign=bottom>
	<th align=left>Use this form
	<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
	<th align=left>... <b><em>NOT</em></b> this form
<tr>	<td colspan=3><hr>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="Image_formats"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="Imgfts"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
</table></blockquote>

<p>
Anchors should be empty, that is

<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr valign=bottom>
	<th align=left>Use this form
	<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
	<th align=left>... <b><em>NOT</em></b> this form
<tr>	<td colspan=3><hr>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;</tt></b><b><em>anything</em></b><b><tt>&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
</table></blockquote>

<p>
<a name="Anchor_placement"></a>Place an anchor within a paragraph (indented
paragraph, list item, head, etc.) and at its beginning.

<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr valign=bottom>
	<th align=left>Use this form
	<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
	<th align=left>... <b><em>NOT</em></b> this form
<tr>	<td colspan=3><hr>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td><b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b><b><em>&nbsp;...text...&nbsp;</em></b><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;</tt></b>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;li&gt;&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td><b><tt>&lt;a&nbsp;name="..."&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;li&gt;</tt></b>
</table></blockquote>

<hr>

<h2><a name="Text"></a>The presentation of text</h2>

<h3><a name="Text_sections"></a>Sections of text</h3>

<h4><a name="Paragraphs"></a>Paragraphs: <b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b></h4>

<p>
Define unindented paragraphs with <b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b>, never with
explicit line breaks <b><tt>&lt;br&gt;</tt></b>, and make them
ragged-right, not right-filled or centered.  Put the paragraph tag
<b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b> on a line alone, except when it is
<a href="#Anchor_placement">followed immediately by an anchor</a>.
Don't place the anchor before the paragraph tag.

<h4><a name="Blockquote"></a>Indented paragraphs: <b><tt>&lt;blockquote&gt;</tt></b></h4>

<p>
Define indented paragraphs with <b><tt>&lt;blockquote&gt;</tt></b>.  Avoid
elaborate nested indentation -- that is, more than two levels.  It is
generally a poor idea to try to make indentation carry too much weight of
meaning for text, so use indentation simply to separate visual elements for
easier reading.

<h4><a name="Line_breaks"></a>Explicit line breaks: <b><tt>&lt;br&gt;</tt></b></h4>

<p>
Use explicit line breaks <b><tt>&lt;br&gt;</tt></b> sparingly, and never as
a substitute for paragraph tags.  Do use them in

<ul>
<li>multi-line addresses
<li>formatted coding examples
<li>table entries, sparingly
</ul>

<h4><a name="Preformatted_text"></a>Preformatted text: <b><tt>&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b></h4>

<p>
Use preformatted text <b><tt>&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b> exclusively for material
that must be presented with exact spacing in a monospaced font, such as
extended coding examples.  Where extended preformatted text seems likely to
be wider than a typical browser window, reduce the font size:

<blockquote>
<b><tt>&lt;font size="-1"&gt;&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b><br>
<b><em>...&nbsp;Wide preformatted text&nbsp;...</em></b><br>
<b><tt>&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/font&gt;</tt></b>
</blockquote>

<h3><a name="Use_of_fonts"></a>The use of different font faces</h3>

<p>
Do not use named fonts.  Use only standard markup to specify fonts, as
shown in this table.

<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr><th colspan=3 bgcolor="#CCCC00"><hr><font size="+1">Use of fonts</font><hr>
<tr valign=bottom>
	<th align=left>Tag
	<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
	<th align=left>Used for
<tr>	<td colspan=3><hr>
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;address&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Addresses in running text
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;b&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Emphasis everywhere
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;em&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Emphasis, usually in running text; with <b><tt>&lt;b&gt;</tt></b>, strong emphasis
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;font size=</tt></b><b><em>N</em></b><b><tt>&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Table headings, extended <b><tt>&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b> examples
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;pre&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Preformatted text (to control spacing)
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;small&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Superscripts (smaller than <b><tt>&lt;font size="-1"&gt;</tt></b>)
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;sup&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>Superscripts
<tr valign=top>	<td><b><tt>&lt;tt&gt;</tt></b>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td>With <b><tt>&lt;b&gt;</tt></b>, used for specific names of
	code, programs, and data in running text, and in short examples
</table></blockquote>

<hr>

<h2><a name="Lists"></a>Lists: <b><tt>&lt;ul&gt;, &lt;ol&gt;, &lt;dl&gt;</tt></b></h2>

<p>
Don't over-use lists: instead simply use clear wording in running text
wherever possible.  Use a list where the special formatting improves the
material's clarity and readability.

<p>
Most simple lists should be unordered (bulleted) lists
<b><tt>&lt;ul&gt;</tt></b>.  Use an ordered (numbered or alphabetized) list
<b><tt>&lt;ol&gt;</tt></b> only where the exact ordering or an exact count
is important.

<p>
Where entries in a descriptive list <b><tt>&lt;dl&gt;</tt></b> contain
extended descriptions <b><tt>&lt;dd&gt;</tt></b> -- especially if the
descriptions contain paragraph breaks or tables -- improve the spacing
between entries by making each entry a separate list.  That is, enclose
each entry in a separate list to give it more readable spacing, rather than
putting many <b><tt>&lt;dt&gt;...&lt;dd&gt;...</tt></b> entries in a single
list:

<blockquote><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0>
<tr valign=bottom>
	<th align=left>Use this form
	<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
	<th align=left>... <b><em>NOT</em></b> this form
<tr>	<td colspan=3><hr>
<tr>	<td valign=top>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dl&gt;</tt></b><br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dt&gt;</tt></b>Term<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dd&gt;</tt></b>Description<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b>Another paragraph of description<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;/dl&gt;</tt></b><br>
	    &nbsp;<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dl&gt;</tt></b><br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dt&gt;</tt></b>Another term<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dd&gt;</tt></b>Another description<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;/dl&gt;</tt></b><br>
	    ...<br>
	<td>&nbsp;
	<td valign=top>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dl&gt;</tt></b><br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dt&gt;</tt></b>Term<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dd&gt;</tt></b>Description<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;p&gt;</tt></b>Another paragraph of description<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dt&gt;</tt></b>Another term<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;dd&gt;</tt></b>Another description<br>
	    ...<br>
	    <b><tt>&lt;/dl&gt;</tt></b>
</table></blockquote>

<p>
This may be more work for the HTML writer, but the results for the reader
are often much better.

<hr>

<h2><a name="Tables"></a>Tables: <b><tt>&lt;table&gt;</tt></b></h2>

<h3><a name="Readability"></a>Readability for the user and the HTML writer</h3>

<p>
Format tables to be as readable as possible both with a browser and when
converted to plain text.  Browsers and converters of all kinds handle
tables idiosyncratically, so there seems to be more art than science to
reaching this end, which accounts for all the detail in the guidelines for
tables: it is the reason for all the uses of background color
<b><tt>bgcolor</tt></b>, horizontal rules <b><tt>&lt;hr&gt;</tt></b>, and
explicit spacing.

<p>
Secondarily, arrange HTML source code for tables to be readable by the
writer and developer.

<h3><a name="Table_guidelines"></a>Specific guidelines for coding tables</h3>

<ul>
<li>Large tables have heads with the same background color as the page's
<a href="#Headline">headline</a>.  (Color is used only in tables and only
this way, and it is the same color everywhere.  In consideration of
differences of color vision, the color is chosen so that normal black text
contrasts with a brighter background, and the color itself against white.)

<li>Do not use borders for tables; they almost invariably only clutter the
appearance without adding to clarity, and they don't convert well to plain
text.  For visual spacing prefer white space.

<li>Set cell padding and spacing to 0.  Use explicit white space for
readability, not implicit white space.

<li>Begin the code for a new row <b><tt>&lt;tr&gt;</tt></b> on a new line.
Generally use <b><tt>valign=top</tt></b> to control the placement of text
in a row for readability with a browser or as plain text.

<li>Code the first column of a row beginning on the same line as the
beginning of the row, and then begin every other column on a separate line.
Always precede <b><tt>&lt;td&gt;</tt></b> by a tab character.

<li>Separate two columns of substantive material by a visually empty column
of nonbreaking spaces for readability.  Specify the width of this empty
column in the first row, and in all other rows give that column a single
nonbreaking space.

<li>Use horizontal rules and visually empty rows for clarity, but
sparingly.  Be consistent with the existing tables.

<li>Give every cell some contents: put a nonbreaking space in a visually
empty cell as a placeholder.
</ul>

<h3><a name="Typical_table"></a>HTML code for typical tables</h3>

<p>
The HTML source code for a typical large table should look like this:

<blockquote>
<pre>&lt;table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th colspan=5 bgcolor="#CCCC00"&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;font size="+1"&gt;Large&nbsp;table&lt;/font&gt;&lt;hr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;    &lt;th align=left&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;th align=left&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;th align=left&gt;...
&lt;tr&gt;    &lt;td&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;td&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;td&gt;...
...
&lt;/table&gt;
</pre></blockquote>

<p>
The HTML source code for a typical small table should look like this:

<blockquote>
<pre>&lt;table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;    &lt;td&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;td&gt;...
&lt;tr&gt;    &lt;td&gt;...
        &lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;
        &lt;td&gt;...
...
&lt;/table&gt;
</pre></blockquote>

<hr>

<h2><a name="Unused_tags"></a>Tags not used</h2>

<p>
Don't use optional tags (ones not required by the HTML standard).  These
include <b><tt>&lt;/dd&gt;</tt></b>, <b><tt>&lt;/dt&gt;</tt></b>,
<b><tt>&lt;/li&gt;</tt></b>, <b><tt>&lt;/p&gt;</tt></b>,
<b><tt>&lt;/tr&gt;</tt></b>, <b><tt>&lt;/th&gt;</tt></b>, and
<b><tt>&lt;/td&gt;</tt></b>.

<hr>

<h2><a name="New_document"></a>Creating a new document</h2>

<h3><a name="File_name"></a>Name the new document in 8+3 format</h3>

<p>
If you create a new Ghostscript HTML document, choose for it a name in 8+3
format for cross-platform compabitility:

<blockquote>
<b><em>Name</em></b><b><tt>.htm</tt></b>
</blockquote>

<p>
where "<b><em>Name</em></b>" is no more than eight characters.

<p>
Begin the new file name with an upper-case letter like the existing names,
which are in mixed case beginning with upper-case letters.  Use spelling,
not case, to distinguish between names: that is, don't create a new file
whose name differs from an existing one only by the difference between
upper and lower case, because some platforms can't store two such files.

<h3><a name="Plagiarize"></a>Use an existing document as a model</h3>

<p>
To create an entirely new Ghostscript document, plagiarize this one for the
<a href="#Structuring_comments">structuring comments</a> and other useful
parts.  Then, using the <a href="#Structuring_comments">structuring
comments</a> as a guide to the sections of the document (in a text editor,
search for "<b><tt>&lt;!--&nbsp;[</tt></b>"):

<ul>
<li>insert your own HTML title and <a href="#Headline">headline</a> (they
should ordinarily be the same text) in place of the old ones;

<li>insert your own RCS <b><tt>$Id</tt></b> in place of the old one in the
<a href="#Structure_head">HTML header</a>;

<li>delete the old entries in the <a href="#Table_of_contents">table of
contents</a>;

<li>keep the hint paragraph;

<li>delete the entire contents section between the structuring comments;
and

<li>in the trailer, update the version number and date.
</ul>

<p>
You now have a template document ready for new contents.

<h3><a name="Readme_material"></a>Write new references to go in <b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></h3>

<p>
Write material to go in <a href="Readme.htm"><b><tt>Readme.htm</tt></b></a>
that describes the new document, and links to it from two sections:

<ul>
<li>the <a href="Readme.htm#Theme_roadmap">thematic section</a> and

<li>the descriptions of documentation
<a href="Readme.htm#Ordered_roadmap">arranged by file name</a>.
</ul>

<h3><a name="New_doc_other"></a>Other considerations</h3>

<p>
Follow the other guidelines here, including which elements of the
document should go in which section according to the structuring comments,
and <a href="#Headers">anchoring every <b><tt>&lt;Hn&gt;</tt></b>
header</a>.  As you create text and headers, you will want to rebuild the
<a href="#Table_of_contents">table of contents</a> from the headers
occasionally.

<p>
Pete Kaiser &lt;<a href="mailto:kaiser@acm.org">kaiser@acm.org</a>&gt;
wrote a package of GNU emacs functions specifically to handle Ghostscript
HTML documentation, including functions to build a table of contents from
headers in an HTML document, and to build and maintain tables and
other structures built along the guidelines in this document.

<hr>

<h2><a name="Miscellany"></a>Miscellany</h2>

<p>
Use <b><tt>&lt;&gt;</tt></b> to bracket links to visible email addresses
(<b><tt>mailto</tt></b>) in running text.  This makes it easy for a user to
cut and paste the entire name and address into another document or mailer,
for instance

<blockquote>
Free Software Foundation &lt;<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">gnu@gnu.org</a>&gt;
</blockquote>

<p>
For exponentiation use "<b><tt>^</tt></b>" (not "**" or "exp()") plus
writing the exponent as a superscript in <b><tt>&lt;small&gt;</tt></b>
size:

<blockquote>
Something<b><tt>^&lt;sup&gt;</tt></b><b><tt>&lt;small&gt;</tt></b>exponent<b><tt>&lt;/small&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;</tt></b>.
</blockquote>

<p>
to look like this:

<blockquote>
Something<b><tt>^</tt></b><sup><small>exponent</small></sup>
</blockquote>

<p>
This is intended for readability both in a browser and as plain text.

<!-- [2.0 end contents] ==================================================== -->

<!-- [3.0 begin visible trailer] =========================================== -->
<hr>

<p>
<small>Copyright &copy; 1996, 2000 Aladdin Enterprises.  All rights
reserved.</small>

<p>
This software is provided AS-IS with no warranty, either express or
implied.

This software is distributed under license and may not be copied,
modified or distributed except as expressly authorized under the terms
of the license contained in the file LICENSE in this distribution.

For more information about licensing, please refer to
http://www.ghostscript.com/licensing/. For information on
commercial licensing, go to http://www.artifex.com/licensing/ or
contact Artifex Software, Inc., 101 Lucas Valley Road #110,
San Rafael, CA  94903, U.S.A., +1(415)492-9861.

<p>
<small>Ghostscript version 8.53, 20 October 2005

<!-- [3.0 end visible trailer] ============================================= -->

</body>
</html>
